Page 33 of Unearthing the Smuggler's Heart
Happily.
He scowled at them for the briefest moment before regaining himself. He didn't like the feeling of jealousy at all, and he liked the knowing smirks Isabelle kept tossing his way even less.
When it came time for them to depart for the armory, Mathias found himself hovering near Miss Ferris, finding reasons to speak final words of advice to her, and using any excuse he had to touch her. This only seemed to add to her air of anxious anticipation, which of course was not what he wished to do.
So in the end, he waved them off, and watched their horses depart for the city while digging the balls of his feet deep into his boots, and reminding himself that he did not need to follow.
Instead, he made his way to the second floor of the inn, where the doors to three bedrooms stood open, allowing sunlight and fresh air to flood into the hall. The fourth door, Isabelle's, had been nudged shut as she retreated for an afternoon nap, giving sleepy smiles of encouragement to the others.
His room was at the end of the hallway, and so he had no choice but to pass by the other two as he made his way there. It was an impossible ask for him not to at least peek into Jade's room, to be curious about what she'd brought with her from the ship, to maybe get the smallest sense of what secrets she hid behind her bedroom doors.
He chuckled to himself, remembering that first day on the ship, the flurry of schedule sheets scattering to the winds and Jade Ferris's yellow bonnet dropping out of her hands in shock. He wondered if she planned to schedule out their days here on land as well.
Without really intending to, he found himself drifting into her chamber, much as he had back on theHarpy. Mathias had never much been one for learning his lesson.
She had brought that battered clock with her, its brass finish glinting in a dull effort to reflect the cheery sunlight. He walked toward it and lifted it, studying its modest design and the varnished little inscription around the clock face—Of human virtues, patience is most great.
What a load of rubbish.He shook his head, setting the clock back down on the table.Sanctimonious nonsense.
Jade deserved a more encouraging quote on her bedside, one that encouraged joy and action and a little bit of selfishness too. She had been far too patient for far too long. That much was evident.
Mathias wondered what his life would look like if he had embraced this philosophy of patience and waiting. Would some destiny have arrived to him, darting in through the window one morning and landing on his lap?
He didn't think so.
Action was a far greater virtue than patience.
As expected, she had put her schedule sheets with the clock, just as it had been before. He peered at them, curious, but too paranoid of repeated history to touch them again. They were no longer blank. Instead, the top sheet, inked with the wordMasterin the top right-hand corner, was arranged into a series of hourly events, broken down by function, purpose, and individuals responsible.
It was, he realized, an idealized day aboard theHarpy, starting before the sun rose and ending with all crew but the watchman snug in their beds. At the bottom, she had written in slanted ink, as though her hand had not been steady:storm contingency required.
It made him laugh. She might have never set foot on a ship before this venture, but she clearly had mastered its nuances in quick order, without ever having to tie a single knot. It had annoyed him on board, yes, but looking at this sheet, he wondered if she would let him keep it or copy it or something of the sort when all was said and done.
He risked putting a finger to it, tracing the uneven tread of the parchment next to the heading labeledThe Captain. The list beneath it was speculative, with many question marks after activities she had apparently observed him performing from a distance. She was correct in her guesses far more often than not, and he was tempted to leave her a little note on the form, telling her so. But he imagined she would not take kindly to others defacing her careful work, even in good humor.
No. He bit his lip, straightening his posture and peering out the window, thoughts milling in his mind. She liked her things just so, didn't she?
He turned on his heel and made his way back into the hall, but rather than going to his own room, he made his way down the stairs in search of Monsieur Petetti.
Where, he wondered, could one purchase ribbons near the outskirts of town?
CHAPTER14
Jade had been expecting something more grand.
It wasn't that the word "armory" was particularly reminiscent of palatial grandeur or that Marseille itself did not have a charming mix of both opulent and quaint buildings throughout its cobbled boulevards. Perhaps it was simply a naive fantasy she'd had about all things French, or perhaps it was because she knew some untold treasure lurked inside.
Regardless of the whys, she found herself a little underwhelmed by the sturdy gray stones, which stacked together into a sensible rectangular building.
The armory.
It wasn't far from the port, and as Charles Monetier helped her down from the carriage steps, she thought she could hear the slosh of ocean waves somewhere off in the near distance. She could even smell it, just a little, as though the salt was traveling from the water and into the air, soaring over the things between them to remind her that she'd sailed all the way here, just for this.
The doors were gray, too, heavy and stone with two uniformed sentries posted outside, both squinting against the direct sunlight that hit their faces in the late afternoon. Above the door was a faded crest of blue and white, featuring a bull on one side and a lion on the other; two fearsome creatures that did not often cross paths.
It felt foreboding to Jade. If she had been there alone, she was sure she would not have had the nerve to approach.
For a moment, she had forgotten that shewasn'talone. It was only the gentle inquiry of her name from her escort that snapped her back into the moment, reminding her that she needn't gather up all her courage after all. At least not yet.
